Edward charles walden



No. 620,065. Patented Feb. 2|, I899.

' E. C. WALDEN.

CARPET STRETGHER.

(Application filed Aug. 20, 1898.)

(No Model.)

witneoow UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD CHARLES WALDEN, OF MIDDLETOIVN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BENJAMIN S. PETERS, OF SAME PLACE.

CARPET-STRETCH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,065, dated February 21, 1899.

Application filed A g 20, 1898. Serial No. 689.132. (N0 model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD CHARLES WALDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Carpet-Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to carpet-stretchers, and more particularly to that class of carpetstretchers adapted to be placed upon the floor beneath the carpet near its free edge and adapted to clamp the edge of the carpet and stretch the same when pressed down toward the floor by the knee or foot of the operator, the object of the invention being to generally improve, simplify, cheapen, and increase the utility of such devices, at the same time reducing the liability of the instrument to slip upon the floor or tear or injure the carpet.

With this object in view my invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward particularly pointed out in the claims. 4

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, having reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carpetstretcher constructed in accordance with my invention, the clamping-jaw and stretchinglever being illustrated in their closed position. Fig. 2 is a similar view on a smaller scale, the lever and clamping-j aw being illustrated as open or apart from each other in position to receive the edge of the carpet. Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation showingthe device in position clamping the edge of 'the carpet and ready to be operated to stretch the carpet, the position assumed by the various parts during the operation of stretching being illustrated in dotted lines.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A and B indicate two inverted crescent-shaped bars provided at each end with points, as A B, to engage the floor to hold the stretcher firmly in position against slipping thereon.

0 indicates a block or lever, preferably made of hard wood, although it might be made of other material, and pivoted upon a rod or bolt D, which passes through it and the bars A and B, the said bars being further supported and held in parallel position by means of a rod or bolt E, provided with nuts or flanges F inside of the bars A and B and the usual nut outside of the bar B. (Not shown.) A coiled spring G is secured at its upper end to the block or lever C near its upper end and at its lower end to the rod E.

H indicates a clamp-block hinged at I to the lower end of the block or lever C, a transverse cross-bar J projecting from the face of the clamp-block H into a correspondinglyshaped recess K in the face of the block or lever C.

In the operation of the invention carpet L is tacked at the opposite side (not shown) and the stretcher is placed upon the floor beneath the loose or unsecured end of the carpet near the wall, and with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2 the free edge of the carpet is lapped over the top of the clampblock H, covering the transverse bar J. The block or lever O and clamp-block II are then brought together in the position shown in Fig. 3, with the carpet clamped between the lever and clamp-block and pressed into the recess K in the lever O by the transverse bar J. Pressure is now applied upon the carpet at the upper end of the clamp-block, causing the lever C and clamp-block H to be moved upon their pivotal rod D toward the wall, thus exerting an immense force and stretching the carpet to its utmost limit, if desired. A tack or tacks will now be driven into the carpet in the rear of the stretcher and the stretcher removed from under the carpet, leaving but a very narrow end of the carpet to be stretched by hand and secured at the edge.

The simplicity and eifectiveness of a carpet-stretcher thus constructed will be readily apparent, and it will be evident that the work can be efiectually and rapidly done without any danger of tearing or injuring the surface of the carpet.

While I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact details of construction shown, but hold that any slight variation therefrom such as might suggest itself to the ordinary mechanic would clearly be comprehended in the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of the parallel, inverted, crescent-shaped bars having pointed ends to engage the floor, the lever or block pivoted thereto and the clampblock pivoted to the lower edge of the lever, substantially as described.

2. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of the parallel, inverted, crescent-shaped bars having pointed ends to engage the floor, the lever or block pivoted thereto, the clampblock pivoted to the lower edge of the lever, the lever and clamp-block being provided with a coinciding recess and transverse bar for clamping the carpet, substantially as described.

In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of the parallel, inverted, crescent-shaped bars having pointed ends to engage the floor, the lever or block pivoted thereto, the clampblock pivoted to the lower edge of the lever, the supporting and separating rod or bolt connecting the bars adjacent to the lever, and the spring secured at one end to said rod or bolt and at the other end to the upper portion of the lever, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described carpet-stretcher, comprising the parallel, inverted, crescentshaped bars having pointed ends to engage the floor, the separating and supporting rod connecting said bars near their forward end, the stretching-lever pivotally secured between said bars at a point above its lower end and provided in its rear face with a transverse recess, the clamp-block pivoted at its lower end to the lower end of the stretchinglever and provided with a projecting transverse bar adapted to engage in the recess of the clamp-lever, and the spring connected at its lower end to the supporting and separating bolt, and at its upper end to the front face of the stretching-lever near the top thereof, substantially as described.

EDWARD CIIA RLES \VALDEN.

Witnesses:

WM. A. CRoLL, A. M. CROLL. 

